CTS inaugurates third development center in Calcutta

The Chennai-based Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) Corporation has opened its third development center in Calcutta, taking the total to eight (four in Chennai, three in Calcutta and one in Pune). "Calcutta is an important part of our growth strategy," said Chandra Sekaran, Senior Vice-President, Cognizant. "We have greatly benefited from the pool of software technology expertise in the region, and we intend to continue our expansion in Calcutta over the next two years."

The company has invested around $25 million (approximately Rs 107crore) in the Calcutta operations over the last three years and plans to invest around $7-8million (around Rs 30 to 35 crore) during the next three years. Presently, the city accounts for 15-20 percent of the group's total revenues while 10 percent is from Pune and the remaining from Chennai. CTS also plans to strengthen its employee base here to 650 by 2000-end.

From barely $2million in 1997, the company's revenues have gone up to $14million in the third quarter of 1999. "The Calcutta operation has seen exponential growth since its inception," said Siddhartha Mukherjee, Director, Calcutta Operations. This new center will focus on providing solutions in the latest technologies that will empower businesses in the next millenium--the Internet and datawarehousing. "Cognizant's Calcutta operations will focus on technologies like e-business and applications management solutions which empower corporates to transact business on the Internet," said Lakshmi Narayan, President and COO. While 40 percent of CTS revenues come from 'business to business' solutions, the rest is generated from applications management solutions.